In many live-stock farms, steers and heifers are fed by providing the steers with feedstuff ad libitum, i.e., the steers and heifers are offered unrestricted access to the feedstuff In this method of feeding, very large quantities are ingested by the steers and heifers and, for economic reasons, stockmen try to decrease the amount of feedstuff ingested by the steers and heifers per unit of weight gain of the steers and heifers
Achieving these objectives with females and castrated animals is particularly important because these animals have a higher tendency toward lipogenesis than non-castrated male animals, particularly when large quantities of feed are ingested Higher lipogenesis reduces energy utilization in fattening of the steers
It has been proposed to control the ingested amount of feedstuff by providing the steers with ionophore antibiotics, such as monensin or lasalocid These ionophore antibiotics modify the rate of the fermentations taking place at the level of the rumen of the steers, with the consequence that the production of propionic acid is increased with respect to the production of acetic and butyric acids.
However, the extremely low levels at which the ionophore antibiotics are fed makes their uniform mixing with the feedstuff difficult Further, it is well known that the ingestion of these ionophore antibiotics may have detrimental effects on particular species, thus presenting complications in the plants where both feed for cattle and for these particular species are manufactured.
It has been proposed to complement the feedstuff with adjuvants of the type known as probiotics and isoacids. Unfortunately, the use of these adjuvants does not systematically produce the same effect as that of the present invention
Finally, UK Patent Application No. GB 2,159,690 describes the optimization of the assimilation of the feed ration by ruminants by feeding the ruminants an effective amount of sorbitol According to GB 2,159,690, the average daily increase in weight of the animals can be improved when the ruminant is fed sorbitol at the same time as the normal feedstuff ration.
However, none of the prior methods of feeding steers has successfully controlled the amount of feedstuff/ ingested by steers provided with feedstuff ad libitum, without a corresponding decrease in the rate of weight gain of the steers The present Applicant has discovered that the amount of feedstuff ingested by steers and heifers which are offered feedstuff ad libitum is substantially decreased without impairing the rate of weight gain of the steers and heifers by providing the steers and heifers with an effective amount of sorbitol in addition to their normal feedstuff.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method for controlling amount of feedstuff ingested by steers and heifers which are provided with feedstuff ad libitum.
Additional objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description and examples.